Easter Eggs

Damn it ! the pictures are on the other camera. Anyway, on saturday morning I went to look at a used car for sale. Only 500$.  A muted blue 1972 Mercedes, 4 door. 240 with a 280 motor.

The story from the guy was that for the past 6 years it has been in the garage. His wife drove it some prior to that. An old guy from Florida drove it only while he was in Maine during the summers. An old lady had it before that.  The fucking car has just over 60,000 miles. Its 37 years old.  $500!.  

The body was in great shape. some work and paint had been done to it in the past but it was not a big deal. After putting a charge to the battery and a little gasoline down the TWO carburetors, it started and ran. And ran great.  What a score! So yeah, we bought it. Its at the garage now. At this point it may only need 4 new breaks. And because of it's age, title required.

After the break work is done there is already a buyer lined up.

Cars and Car Companies

The hot news of late has been the bailout talks the 'big three' auto companies, Ford, GM and Chrysler are having with the Feds. I just want to throw out some of my SlingShot Thoughts on the subject and get to the main reason for writing tonight.

• First: They auto companies asking for $25,000,000,000 dollars. And that is just a bridge loan to cover a short term deficit. If there was one thing we should have learned lately is that things always cost more than twice as much as the original request. I point to the banking and finance bail out and the cost of the Iraq war as two points.
• Second: They are claiming 2.5 million jobs could be lost. Using the same logic above I will say that really only 1.25 million jobs would be lost in the short term.
• Third: You fuckin' jerk off CEOs. Fly 30 million dollar private jets, costing $20,000 for the trip to beg the government crying poor mouth. FUCK YOU GUYS! That's like, what, going to the welfare office wearing a new suit and gold chains.
• Fourth: I say let 'em falter on their own. It was their poor business and management practices. They are not producing products the people want. It's no ones fault but their own. Own up, BITCHES!

Ok. The real rant. GM is pushin' out the Chevy Volt. It goes a whole 40 miles on batteries. whooooo. (if you didn't hear my sarcasm, read that again) 40 miles and the car while, granted LOOKS really cool, is going to cost (according to some reports) like $40,000. This one more perfect reason why they can't sell anything. Who the frig has 40-grand for a car that only goes 40 miles?

My mom sold a Toyota Tercel to a guy who DIY electric car that easily does 20 miles for 5 grand. HERE. This guy got half the range for way less cash.

I'm just blabbering and complaining. With all their resources GM should have a car out, next year, that is getting 300 miles on battery power alone and cost 20-grand. This is the 21st century for christsakes. I mean really we are less than 60 years from when we are all supposed to be living like George Jetson and I can't even get a flying car over here.

It's just aggravating that the car companies are not held responsible for thier actions and that the government isn't pushing for great things. Maybe Obama will put out a Kennedy-esqe man on the moon, electric car in every driveway. However the more I see that news the less and less Mr. Change is bringing in the ol'Cliton gang. So disappointing.

Bah! Maybe another beer and some old school cartoons will chill me out.

Junk In My Trunk

Holly Hall put up a post today showing us the inside of her car trunk and I commented that the items in the trunk are an introspective of their life and that it sounded like a meme. So, with that, the tag was on and now I present to you my trunk:

First, its not a proper a trunk. It's an VW golf hatch back. The seats are in the down position to maximize space for the dogs, which only really means I can fit WAY more shit in there than I need to and have to empty it every weekend to take Thing 1 and Thing 2 to the trails. But any way in there is:

• my fixed gear bike;
• dog leashes;
• jumper cables;
• extra hat;
• work field bag (hard hat, steel toe boots, extra warm clothes, rain coat, first aid kit, rock hammer, some tools and other crap);
• and of course my Delorme Maine Atlas. (If you can't find it with this map. you deserve to be lost.)

There we have it. who to tag? meh, Ill let it ride.